This blog is totally independent, unpaid and has only three major objectives.
The first is to inform readers of news and happenings in the e-Health domain, both here in Australia and world-wide.
The second is to provide commentary on e-Health in Australia and to foster improvement where I can.
The third is to encourage discussion of the matters raised in the blog so hopefully readers can get a balanced view of what is really happening and what successes are being achieved.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 29nd June, 2015.

Here are a few I have come across the last week or so.

Note: Each link is followed by a title and a few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment.

General Comment

A quiet week with lots of activity in the private sector. Will be interesting to see what the new Financial Year brings and if we see any sensible activity from the Federal Government.

I guess the mid-winter parliamentary pause may see everything just slow down.

Australia's low diagnosis rates for familial hypercholesterolaemia may be overcome by a new pathology lab data mining program that identifies and flags high-risk patients to GPs.

Early trials in a Perth lab show that patients at high risk of FH can be identified by a program that analyses the clinical data in lipid testing requests for risk factors such as elevated LDL and family history of cardiovascular disease.

The findings can then be passed on to GPs via interpretive comments on test results, according to researchers from St John of God Pathology and the University of WA.

A new website, curated by a board of prominent Melbourne doctors, aims to strip Dr Google of its stethoscope once and for all, with animations and verified information on more than 400 health conditions.

The website, being launched on Sunday by Melbourne start-up Health&, presents topics on the risks of medical tourism and why babies refuse to eat, to the causes of headaches and treating anaphylaxis.

Chair of the project’s advisory board Leon Piterman, Professor of General Practice at Monash University, said while patients had access to more health information than ever, it often lacked the context or personalisation to make it useful.

Private health insurer Nib has a confirmed an online privacy incident involving the personal details of a number of its customers.

A Nib spokesperson said that it has conducted analysis of an incident whereby Nib’s customer portal displayed incorrect customer information.

"The incident occurred between 10.33AM -11.35AM this morning, and after identifying the cause of the incident, Nib disabled the service immediately. There were 329 customers who accessed online services during this time. Any customer who did not access online services between this time were not impacted,"

The spokesperson said it is currently attempting to contact all affected customers by telephone this afternoon.

nbn research reveals 35 per cent of grandparents use video calling apps to keep in-touch with their grandchildren. Move over Millennials and watch out GenZ, Aussie grandparents are some of the fastest growing tech users in the country.

Latest research, commissioned by nbn, the company building Australia’s broadband network, identifies a new wave of ‘GranTechies’ – grandparents who are embracing fast broadband and smart devices to form deeper connections with their family and loved ones.

Key findings include:

The majority of Aussie grandparents surveyed, use the internet to connect with their children (76 per cent), grandchildren (59 per cent) and other family members (72 per cent).*

Google has developed a medical-grade wearable device that can stream patient data like pulse and heart rate to doctors.

Google has created a health-tracking wristband that could give health care professionals real-time information on the well-being of their patients.

The wearable can measure a patient's pulse, activity level, skin temperature and heartbeat rhythm. It's also able to monitor light levels and light exposure. This data could be used to learn more about patient behavior outside of the hospital and better treat ailments, Google said Tuesday. For example, data showing that a person isn't moving around frequently or spending limited time outdoors could indicate illness, Google said.

Don't expect to use the device to track sleeping patterns or count steps. Unlike consumer-focused health and fitness wearables and smartwatches, Google's "cardiac and activity sensor" device is designed for medical settings, the company said.

Rikke Duus and Mike Cooray

Women reported that if they weren't wearing their Fitbit they felt "naked" and activities they completed seemed wasted.

You no longer have to look to science fiction to find the cyborg. We are all cyborgs now. Mobile phones, activity trackers, pacemakers, breast implants and even aspirins all act as biological, cognitive or social extensions and enhancements of our bodies and minds. Some have even predicted that human beings as we know them will be replaced by technically enhanced, god-like immortal beings within 200 years. Or at least rich people will.

The next generation of wearable technology is set to take us one step closer to this predicted future. We are now looking at a future of bionic, data-rich and in-body technologies that may forever change what it means to be human.

Reporter

Cyber security firm FireEye says the Abbott government needs to introduce mandatory data breach disclosure laws sooner rather than later after more than 30,000 iiNet customers had their passwords hacked.

Fairfax Media recently reported that an anonymous hacker was selling or trading a database of Westnet, a WA-based internet service provider that was acquired by iiNet in 2008.

Australian and New Zealand regional director at FireEye, Phil Vasic, said breaches in Australia are common, but disclosing them are not.

Does baby snore like dad?

Babies who snore are widely under diagnosed according to Australian researchers investigating less costly and more effective methods of identifying sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) in infants.

A joint study conducted by electrical engineering researchers working at both Western Sydney and Sydney universities looked at the combined use and applicability of two minimally invasive sensors, electrocardiogram (ECG) and pulse oximetry as an early detection method of SAHS – a respiratory condition experts estimate can affect up to 4 percent of infants.

Sleep-related breathing disorders in infants and young children have been linked to several negative developmental effects, such as cognitive impairment, depression, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder says Gregory Cohen from University of Western Sydney (UWS) and Philip de Chazal professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Sydney.

HealthEngine has reaffirmed its place as Australia’s largest online GP booking system, announcing a major milestone - its one millionth online booking.

The booking was made at Gap Road Medical Centre in Sunbury, Victoria.

As digital technology advances exponentially, the need to adopt technology to help meet the challenges is accelerating.

In June 2012, 4,000 bookings had been made on HealthEngine. Three years later, this has increased to 1,000,000 bookings and a health appointment is booked every 20 seconds compared to every 2.5 hours in 2012.

ROBOTIC-assisted cardiac surgery significantly reduces median length of stay in hospital, complications and mortality compared with non-robotic surgery, a US study has found. The research, published in JAMA Surgery, used national data to compare the results of patients who underwent cardiac operations involving the valves, septa and vessels, as well as other heart and pericardium procedures. They identified 1 374 653 cardiac cases between 2008 and 2011, which included 0.4% that were robotic assisted. The authors matched each robotic-assisted case with two non-robotic cases based on 14 patient characteristics. During the study period, the use of robotic-assisted surgery increased from 0.057% in 2008 to 0.390% in 2011.

Australia has dropped two spots, to a lowly 47th position, in average peak connection speeds. But we do better in our overall average– we remain in 42nd position.

Content delivery provider Akamai has delivered its latest quarterly ‘State of the Internet’ report, which had become a widely used global benchmark of relative connection speeds between countries.

Australia continues to perform poorly. While the Government continues to struggle with the implementation of its so-called ‘multi-technology mix’ broadband’, more and more countries are adopting fibre to the premises and moving past us.

Australia is down to 50th position globally in terms of broadband connectivity above 4Mbps, down a massive six positions in only a quarter. Things are getting better – slowly – in absolute terms, but in relative terms we just keep getting worse.

Pexip announced that its Infinity video-conferencing platform is powering Telstra Health's MyCareManager. Recently launched in Australia, the integrated eHealth platform supports disability, community, and residential age care providers to deliver care from a distance. Powered by the Pexip Infinity platform, the platform leverages tools such as video-conferencing to provide clients with an intuitive face-to-face experience.

Market Research Store has uploaded latest Report on "The Mobile Healthcare (mHealth) Bible 2014 to 2020" Technologies, Applications, Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Industry Verticals and Forecasts" in their database, At Market Research Store, we have market research reports from competent publishers.

With more than 7 Billion mobile network subscriptions worldwide, the mobile communications sector is rapidly gaining traction from a diverse range of vertical sectors. Healthcare is no exception to this trend.

Recent deployment of Australian Medicines Terminology (AMT) as a component of Electronic Medications Management (eMM) systems at hospitals in Victoria, Tasmania and at Sydney Adventist Hospital has resulted in a number of benefits.

An enabling solution that overcomes fragmentation of medicine documentation through common clinical terminology, AMT is authored, maintained and distributed by NEHTA. Australian Medicines Terminology is a key element of the national eHealth foundations.

The International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO) is forming seven new Advisory Groups to conduct specific activities that will contribute to the fulfilment of the Management Team’s responsibilities or the organization’s mandate. The Advisory Groups will be chaired by Management Team members and will be agile in nature, given the changing needs and direction of the organization.

The seven Advisory Groups are:

Content Managers Advisory Group

E-Learning Advisory Group

Modeling Advisory Group

SNOMED CT Editorial Advisory Group

Software Developers Advisory Group

Terminology Release Advisory Group

Tooling User Advisory Group

Descriptions of these groups and their Terms of Reference are available at http://www.ihtsdo.org/participate/join-an-advisory-group/

The deadline for nominations is Friday 14 August 2015. Self-nominations are welcome.

The year is half over and we’ve seen a mountain of gadgets. Apple Watch and wearables generally; virtual reality viewers; 3-D printers that are also scanners; drones; the explosion of the ultra-high-definition format (4K) for televisions and gaming; incredible high-resolution screens on phones; faster mobile networks — the list goes on.

Meanwhile, the nanotechnology revolution continues. Computer components are even tinier. For example, a computer graphics card for gamers released this month by chipmaker AMD has 8.5 billion transistors. It means you can buy a fast, high-end computer that fits in your pocket, complete with one terabyte of storage, with a low-power central processing unit and large yet cheaper solid state drives. Lower power means less heat generated, less ventilation needed, hence less space.